


Without limits

by abbie_odairxoxo



Category: Divergent - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4849007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbie_odairxoxo/pseuds/abbie_odairxoxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Annabax Johannason is ripped away from Candor and forced to undergo a factions test, she has no idea what awaits her. Additionally, she has no idea that Eric, her old boyfriend, still wants her, and that she still wants him. What happens in each faction, stays in each faction.<br/>-Told from both Eric and Anna's point of view, predominantly Annabax, each chapter will be named after the character that is telling the story-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Annabax

The dress I wear does nothing to protect me from the cold. That doesn’t exactly worry me though. What worries me is that there are groups of men in black clothing – dauntless style – running around with guns shooting people. I’m confused as to whether or not these bullets are actual fatal as I have seen quite a few people look relatively unaffected by them – meaning that they just get up and walk away. The people that are affected by them lie down, though, they look like they are sleeping as their chests are still moving and they are breathing. If anyone’s wondering why I haven’t been shot yet, it’s because I’m hiding. Deep down in the headquarters of Candor, the truth telling faction, there are quite a few hidey holes that allow me to remain hidden but still be able to see what’s going on around. So far I have watched so many people scream and fall. There is a body lying in front of where I am hiding – the space between two walls that no one ever notices because from the outside it looks tiny anyways – but I can too afraid to reach out and touch what seems too be the bullet. From where I am standing, it spears to me a star like prong that is imbedded into the skin of the victim. Though there is no obvious signs of external damage, who knows what is going on underneath the ski

I glance around; there are plenty more bodies just lying around and then I see it. A little girl, no older than 7 or 8, is walking around, looking completely terrified, and screaming for her mother. Bad idea. I have no idea what is happening at first, but a man in black clothing sneaks up behind the little girl, and quickly grabs her hands, tying them behind her back. By this point, she is screaming even louder, crying, “I just want my mummy.” The man ignores her completely though and lifts her over his shoulder, carrying her in the direction of the grand meeting space. 

I get the feeling that whatever is going on is being held there. I must find out, but first, I must find a way to get there without being seen. That is not going to be an easy task, so I change plan, and just decide to run and get help. These shoes may not be the best possible running shoes, and this dress certainly isn’t going to make the matter any easier – it was designed to look pretty and show off curves, not to run in. That doesn’t matter now though. As soon as I’m somewhere safe, I’ll change into something that is more suitable to run in. That would probably mean something like slacks and a shirt, or even a must less fancy dress and some more comfortable shoes. High heels are good, but not exactly excellent hiking shoes.

Carefully looking around the corner, I see a tall man in Dauntless black with blonde hair, turned away from where I am planning on running, examining a body with his foot. Taking the chance, I duck out of the wall space and run. I run towards the weapon room, where I know that there is a door that would enable me to run to a safer area of the headquarters and eventually make it up to the girls’ dormitory. 

I never make it

When I reach the door, I discover something; it is looked and I don’t hold the key. “Shit,” I mutter, rattling the wire briefly. When nothing happens, I turn around, expecting there to be an answer right in front of me. However, instead of this, I find myself looking into a pair of cold, blue eyes. I automatically know those eyes, but I cannot let myself think of THOSE memories right now. For the owner of these eyes, Eric Reynar, and I once had a history, but it ended quite badly when I said that I wasn’t going to transfer to Erudite or Dauntless. But God, have I missed him. I take in all 6 feet of him, down from his perfectly sculptured face to the shape of his shoulders and waist, to the impeccable muscles in his legs.

All of this happens within a few seconds, long enough for me to realize that I have no chance whatsoever of being able to escape. He seems to realize this too because his lips spread into a smile and his eyebrows furrow, a look that always meant that Eric was sure of something. He’s still a good 10 metres away but I know that that means nothing. Not that the odds not being in my favour has every prevented me from doing anything before. So I turn and run. I have no idea where I’m going, I just know that I have to at least attempt to get away. I can’t just not try. That’s not in my nature. 

So I run, and as expected, I don’t make it very far before Eric’s muscly body slams me into the wall and my vision goes black for a few seconds. I sigh and try and wiggle free. It didn’t work – just as I thought. 

His body feels warm against mine, including the tough material that makes up his jacket and trousers, that I can feel against my bare skin. As well as that, I can feel the warmth of his fingers and strength as well, pressing my hands to the wall. He feels warm and strong, just like I remembered. STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM, YOU NEED TO ESCAPE. My inner subconscious is good at screaming things at me, but I am exceptionally bad at following through on them.

“Hello Annabax,” Eric purrs, breathing in my ear and making me shiver in another way that brings back many memories that I really should not be thinking about right now. So instead, I do the only thing you can possibly do when you’re completely pinned from the waist up, to a male opponent; hit them where it hurts. With a sharp kick in this limited space, I aim for his groin. At once, he groans and his weight shifts, allowing me to escape from his grip. Once I am free I run, but again, I don’t make it very far before I feel an extremely sharp pain in my ankle, and then nothing.


	2. Annabax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabax awakens and doesn't know where she is. All she can hope is that she might get to return to her home in Candor.

When I come back to my senses, I feel a thin, but relatively strong, band of plastic around my wrists. I don’t yet dare to open my eyes, but considering how cold my legs and arms are, and how rocky my surroundings feel, I’m guessing that I’m in a van or a car. Knowing Eric, the latter is more likely to be true because I seem to remember him having his own car and driving it around quite regularly. However, just to further back this up, I open my eyes slowly, enough to peer through my lashes. As expected, I am lying in the back of a car. It’s dark, so I cannot exactly see much of my surroundings, but it appears that Eric is the driver. 

That means that wherever Eric is going to, I am as well. Without making a sound, I open my eyes the rest of the way and peer down at my ankle, to see whether or not what caused the pain is still there, and if so, what it is. What I see doesn’t exactly shock me. Poking out, through the soft material of my skin coloured tights, is a small but deadly looking, silver metal cylinder, that appears to have some sort of sharp thing on the end that is imbedded into my ankle, because the hole looks and feels rather small, not cylinder shaped.

I must have made some sort of noise, because the driver turns around and assesses me in a quick glance before looking back at the road, “Sleeping beauty awakens.”

When I don’t respond, he sighs heavily and continues, “You obviously aren’t going to talk so I’ll just do it for you. We’re going to Erudite headquarters and that bullet sim is going to re removed from your ankle. That way, there won’t be anymore sneak attacks like there were in Candor,” he gives me a long hard look in the mirror, “but don’t expect them to think too highly of you over at Erudite. As you may well remember, Candor and Erudite don’t often see eye to eye.”

I finally speak up, “I actually do remember. Something to do with the Erudite and their arrogance not liking the truth. Then I guess the Candor thinking that the fact wasn’t always necessarily the truth doesn’t exactly help either.”

Eric laughs, reminding me of other times where something I’ve said has made him at react this way, “you have a point.” He leaves it at that and just keeps driving, leaving me to my thoughts which are currently based around escape, and wondering whether or not I will be going back to Candor, and if not, what else they have planned for me? Can I escape? 

 

I don’t get the chance to. As soon as we reach what I assume is Erudite headquarters, Eric steps out of the car and walks towards the door which my head is near. After opening it, he holds out his hands and says simply, “hold my hands and get out. We can’t afford to have you escaping tonight.” He knows me too well sometimes. We may not have spent very long together all those years ago, but they were enough for him to get to know me. Apparently he hasn’t forgotten either..

I make eye contact with him and then quickly look away. I refuse to let him win. Taking my time with it, I gently place my hands in his, to the very best of my ability as the plastic cuffs are still on, preventing much movement from happening. His hands feel cold and rough against mine, and as he tugs me out of the car, I shiver from how cold it is outside, and how thin the material I am wearing is. I glance up through my lashes at Eric and notice that he is staring down at me, or more importantly, the Goosebumps that have risen on my arms. He sighs and tugs me roughly so I stumble and fall into his muscular chest. As though holding a baby, he wraps his arms around me, and rests his head on mine. I freeze, standing completely still and let my arms hang beside his body. 

“Cold?” he asks; running his hands down my arms, effectively giving me more Goosebumps and making me shiver. I don’t respond, and he shoves me against the car. I fall on the ground and shudder, but he’s not doing what I thought he was going to. Instead, I watch in shock as he removes his jacket, which looks so warm and thick, and, using just one hand, pulls me to my feet again, resting my ankle, the one he shot, against his leg. He then pins my back against his chest and removes the plastic from my wrists. Immediately, I flex my hands and stretch them, attempting to get some sort of feeling back into them. Eric wraps his jacket around my shoulders and nudges my arms through. 

His jacket is definitely a lot warmer, and as he turns me around to do it up, I am struck by a sense of de ja vu. He stands up fully and holds out his hand again, beckoning that I should put mine in his again. I stare down at it, and carefully place one of them in his. In one quick swoop, he shoves his arms under my neck and my legs, and lifts me so that I am in his arms. My heart literally stops, and for a second, I am reminded of the olden days, where he would do things like this just to thrill me, but then the current version of Eric is back. He smirks down at me and strokes my ankle, the one that the sim bullet is imbedded in, eliciting a shudder from me. He moves his hand up and pulls the end of the jacket down, “this is longer than that pretty dress you are wearing. Let’s go shall we? Jeanine would love to test you and find out what faction you really belong in.” 

With that, he carries me inside towards where I’m assuming Jeanine Matthews, leader of Erudite, is waiting for us. Maybe then I can ask whether or not I will be going back to Candor.


	3. Annabax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is incredibly lame! Thank you for the positive feedback! Wow! You're all fabulous! :)

Being in Eric’s arms is as thrilling as I remember. His muscles twist and tense as he walks me through Erudite headquarters. As this is not the main building, it is not extremely well lit, and quite a few times, my feet get hit on doorways, or Eric has to twist sideways so it isn’t my head. After walking through numerous doors and corridors, finally arrive outside one that is lit up. Inside sit Jeanine Matthews, unsurprisingly, and a few of the Erudite dressed in their factions colour; blue.

On seeing us, Jeanine nods at Eric, and gives me a confused look, “why do you have a Candor, and why is she wearing your jacket? Is she a new recruit?”

Eric straightens, “Yes and no. We need to give the sim for each of the factions because I don’t think that she is actually Candor.”

“Is she Divergent?” Jeanine’s eyes feast hungrily on me. 

“No,” Eric says, “the dart put her to sleep.”

Jeanine’s eyes snap down to my ankle and she nods “very well. Get the medics in here. Lie her down on the table. Will she keep still?”

Eric glances down at me and then turns back to Jeanine, “I’ll hold her. She has tights on as well, so you can either remove them or cut through them.”

“I’ll go take them off somewhere,” I interjected. 

Jeanine assesses me, “Eric take her to the girls laboratory across the hall.”

Eric nods, and swings around and marches out the door. He dumps me in the doorway of the laboratory and shuts the door, “don’t be too long.”

“How are my meant to get them off with this thing stuck in my ankle?” I grumble. 

Eric groans, and opens the door again, walks in, and shuts it, “I’ll have to cut through them. Go sit on the bench.”

I eye him suspiciously, and do as he says. The metal of the bench is cold underneath my thighs. Eric walks over to me, and bends down next to my ankle. In his hand, he holds a pocket knife. Upon seeing it, I thrash around and try to get away. He pins my legs with his other arm, and as I scream, carefully traces around the dart, and removes the piece of material. Straightening up again, he stares down at me and rolls his eyes, “now your tights. I’m not leaving.”

Blushing as red as the walls, I peel off my shoes and sit them beside me. Eric scoffs at them, “how do you expect to be able to do anything in those?”

I glare at him, “would you mind looking away?”

He grins and turns to face the other wall. Making sure that he has, I carefully slip my tights off, flinching when they nudge the dart. After that, I pull my dress back down. Eric was right though; the dress doesn’t exactly cover much. 

“You can turn around now,” I mutter, attempting to stand but failing.

Eric turns and his eyes zero in on my legs, “nice legs.” Then his arms swoop under me, and he lifts me so that I am back in his arms, “let’s get this over with.”

 

The bench that I am laying is cold underneath my legs. One of the Erudite has set up a curtain of sorts around my leg so that I cannot see what he is doing. Eric sits up near my head and watches what is happening behind the curtain. In his hands, he holds mine so that I cannot lash out while they remove the dart – they’ve pinned my legs with more plastic so that they are fully still.

I hear a rattling of metals and Eric turns to me, shifts my hands into one of his, and uses the other to tilt my head against the metal of the bench so that I cannot attempt to peer over and see what is happening. He runs his thumb along my jawbone and says simply, “this is going to hurt.” 

As soon as the words leave his mouth, I feel the most terrible of pains in my ankle, and I scream through gritted teeth. It literally feels as though someone is stabbing a knife under the dart and ripping it around. Eric squeezes my hands as I try and free them, and holds my head so that I cannot bash that against the bench either. Apparently I need to be fully conscious while this is happening so they’re going to great lengths to make sure I don’t accidentally knock myself out. Finally, the pain ends and I begin to relax. Eric releases my hands and murmurs, “you won’t feel this but they’re just going to put some healing salve onto the wound so you walk again.”

Sure enough, I don’t feel anything and Eric allows me to sit up and put my shoes back on. Jeanine watches this process with fascination, “you want to know more about the faction determination test, correct?”

I nod and wrap my arms around my legs. 

Jeanine continues, “The faction determination test involves giving the subject an injection which holds liquid that will induce the simulation of each individual faction. The individual may pass more than one, and not necessarily be categorised as Divergent because to have aptitude for a faction, the individual must get excessively high marks. Besides, we already know that you are not Divergent because the dart that Eric shot into your ankle put you to sleep. Someone that was classified as Divergent would have stayed awake throughout that process.” 

I shiver, and wrap Eric’s jacket tighter around me. Jeanine’s eyes zero in on that and then raise to Eric’s face with a questioning look. Eric shrugs, “that dress that she’s wearing is useless. She was either going to freeze to death or turn into an icicle.”

“Very well,” Jeanine says, “but people might get the wrong idea Eric. That jacket signifies Dauntless leader. Unless you were planning on training her up, then my advice would be to find her some other warm clothes.”

Eric nods, “we’ll do that now. Then we’ll come back and she can start her faction tests.”


	4. Annabax

There’s a whole walk in closet of spare clothes for people. Eric walks over to one of the far walls and opens a small closet door. He turns around and beckons me over. It surprises me, that even after he healing salve was pressed into the wound, that mu ankle is back to full working and not sore, condition. I reach where Eric is standing and he passes me what looks like a Dauntless outfit; black slacks, a dark grey t shirt, and a jacket that is similar to his but smaller and doesn’t have the stripes. I take them wordlessly, and then as though only just remembering, he glances down at my shoes and curses, “your shoes! You can’t get around in those forever!” 

I shrug, “I did okay back in Candor. Speaking of which, will I ever actually be going back or am I your dummy now to do with what you please?”

All of a sudden, I’m again pinned against the wall, but this time I’m facing Eric, instead of the wall. He moves his hands against my shoulders and grins evilly down at me, making me shudder in way that I thought I’d forgotten about completely, “you’ve always been mine. Even when you refused to go to Dauntless, you were mine. You’ll never stop being mine, no matter what you do.” With that, he leans down and presses his lips roughly against mine. I gasp and without thinking, knot my fingers in his hair and pull him closer, closer, when, in reality, I should be pushing him further away. He moans into my mouth and wraps his arms around my shoulders and strokes my back, finally resting his hands on the curve of my bum, which is only just covered by his jacket. I move my hands from his hair and gently stroke them down his chest, resting them on his stomach. He groans again and tugs on my hair, making me groan as well. He quickly slips his tongue into my mouth, and strokes it against mine. I moan and push back against him, running my hands down his face, stroking what is literally human perfection. As though trying to be careful, his hands slide up my sides and stop just below my breasts. He deepens the kiss and his hands glide over my chest, squeezing gently. I groan, but I know this has to stop.

Regretting it already, I place my hands on his and move them back down to my hips, “stop. I am NOT going to do this.” 

Eric glances at me, and the look on his eyes speaks legions and makes me blush. He tilts my head back towards his, “you’re mine. Even when you thought you weren't, you were. You always have been and you always will be. Get changed. I’ll meet you back with Jeanine.” With that, he sweeps out of the room. 

 

I’m so confused. Where did that come from, and why did it leave me wanting more? So, much more. As I quickly pulled on my new, dark clothes, I sigh. Eric never did say what he was going to do about my shoes. Oh well. I guess I’ll find out later. He was right about something; I can’t get around in these heels forever, they’re going to eventually start hurting my feet. Sighing loudly, I look in the mirror that someone actually thought to install and attempt to make my hair look like it wasn’t just mussed up – to no success because my hair is stubborn. 

“Ugh,” I grumble. This is no good. I’ll just have to go as is.


	5. Eric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning; no not read this chapter if you don't like smut! Also, yes, it is incredibly short. Sorry! And sorry if I got the feelings wrong. I don't have a penis so I really wouldn't know! Thanks fopr the support! In just under 3 days, I reached over 100 people. Thank you lovelies! xoxo

I sit in the toilet, attempting to tame my dick. Although, that proves to be rather difficult when I cannot stop thinking about the feeling of Annabax’s lips against mine, and the sound of her little moans. Ugh. I really need to stop thinking about it. But I can’t. I can still feel the way her hands glided down my chest and the feeling of complete and utter disappointment as they didn’t rest on my dick, but instead gently squeezed my stomach. God, I just want her so badly. I want her as much as I did when I first saw her three years ago, but knew I had to wait because she was only 14, and I was 17, an adult. I was meant to wait, but we met up in secret anyway and nothing major happened. Yeah, there were boob and bum grabs, and times where I just wanted to make her scream my name, but she was only 14, still very much a child. 

She isn’t now though, and when I saw her in Candor headquarters with that small white thing that they refer to as a dress, covering her body, I wanted her. Nothing, through my eyes, has ever changed. From the moment I met Annabax Johannason, I wanted her to join Dauntless, and more than anything, I wanted to fuck the living daylights out of her, until she’s reached a point where all she can do is scream my name as I pound relentlessly into her. 

Fuck! My dick stiffens even further in response to my thoughts and I groan. I need her. I want her. I want to be buried deep inside her, but obviously, I cannot be right now, because she doesn’t want me, and I’m NOT going to rape her. So that leaves only one other method. 

Sighing, I unzip my trousers and slip my hand down my pants. Attempting to imagine that this is Annabax doing this, I run my hand up and down my length, hissing as my pinkie brushes the tip. God, I want her to be doing this to me so much right now. I want her to do what I’m doing, to stoke me, up, down, up, down, and to take delight as I squirm underneath her. I want her to push me over the edge of insanity, but not quite over the edge. I want her to want to do this to me, but I won’t ever make her. I couldn’t make her do something that she doesn’t want to. But as I sit there, stroking myself into oblivion, I imagine the feeling of her mouth wrapped around me, and as I cum, I twitch. 

God, I really need to stop thinking about her.


	6. Annabax

The clothes are actually quite comfortable, and as Eric walks in, his eyes zero in on me and he smirks, “black suits you.” I glare at him and cross my arms across my chest. He’s not going to get a conversation out of me that easily. He sits down in the chair nearest to him and stares across the room at me, not saying anything, but at the same time, saying everything. It’s like that kind of unspoken conversation that happens between the eyes. I never thought Eric’s eyes would display much, as most of the time they remain cold and empty, but there’s something there right now that I want to know more about. Not for the first time, I want to know more about what makes Eric up, and what makes his heart his. 

He clears his throat just as Jeanine walks in with several Erudite men in tow. She glances between us and then assesses what I’m wearing in one cool look, “ah black. Are we assuming that she’ll test positive for Dauntless, or was it just the first lot that you layed your hands on?” She speaks like she already knows the answer. I glance at her curiously as that is the way that a Candor would speak.

Eric takes a while to respond, “Well we can’t just assume anything, so why don’t we get these tests underway? Do you have the serum?” He scratches his chin and makes directly eye contact with me. I blush, and look away.

Jeanine nods, as I watch her out the corner of my eye, and then beckons me over to her, “go and sit on that chair over there. I sincerely hope that you don’t have a fear of needles because each of these five tests requires one each.” She watches as I shudder slightly, because I do hate needles, but I cannot act like a coward in front of them all. So, tossing my ponytail over my shoulder, I march over to the seat and sit down. Immediately it is like I am frozen in place. As hard as I try to move, I can’t. As I go to open my mouth, to say something, anything, I feel the prick of the needle in my neck and I cringe. The initial pain is short and sharp, but the dull ache that spreads around my neck afterwards. As I glance up at Eric, I feel my vision fading. 

“Don’t worry,” he says, “this is normal. This is your first of the tests.”

“Which one?” I manage to get out. 

“Amity,” Jeanine says, “Amity simulation.”

 

The ground is hard beneath my feet and the colours all blur together; green, yellow, and brown. I turn around in circles and giggle because the wind feels nice. WHAT? What is my brain doing? The wind feels nice? How is this in line with any of my ways of thinking at all? “Must be the simulation,” I mutter, trailing my feet through the leaves. They’re very pretty colours. Even in my drugged up Amity mindset, I can admit that and feel like I genuinely mean it. I have no idea what this simulation is meant to do, but I know in order to pass it, I need to figure it out. Or would that be part of the Erudite test? To be given a challenge and have to figure it out. I guess I’ll see when I pass this one. Thinking about the faction tests reminds me of the pain of the needle. 

However, before I can think too much of that, a lady in green clothing materialises out of nowhere. She looks me dead in the eye and smiles, in a way that only the Amity can, “Hello there.”

“Hi,” I say cautiously. 

“How are you?” she asks, sitting down in the leaves. “Feel free to take a seat if you wish. There’s plenty of room.”

Not letting my eyes wander away from this strange lady, I sink down into the leaves, “okay I guess.”

She smiles again, reminding me that the Amity are sometimes idiots, “do you have something on your mind? Perhaps you are confused about a boy? Or a complex aspect of your life? Or maybe you just don’t know where you belong.” The last sentence rings a bell, and reminds me as to why I’m in this situation in the first place. As though reading my mind, she nods, “you’re not Amity perhaps? You kicked that boy instead of trying to reason with him. Why didn’t you try and reason with him? You could have forgiven him for what happened all those years ago you know.”

I take a deep breath, “it was never going to be as easy as to forgive him. I guess you’re right; I’m not Amity.”

Her smiling face is the last thing I see before the simulation ends. 

 

When I re-awaken, I blink. Eric is staring at me, not saying anything and Jeanine just nods, “well you’re not Amity; you admitted as much yourself and the mind reading material in the sim picked up on it too…among other things. We’ll discuss that later. Next simulation,” I feel the needle and I cringe, “Candor.”

I black out again.

 

The room around me very much resembles a Candor courtroom. On second inspection, I am convinced that that is what it is. To make matters even more confusing, court is in session and I am sitting on the witness stand. A young law enforcer, someone I know actually, is standing in front of me, waiting to ask a question. Again, I am even more confused because the feeling in the pit of my stomach screams that whatever crime has been committed, I know who did it and I was possibly even there, making me just as guilty for not reporting it earlier. 

“So,” the woman says, a woman who I can now identify as my teacher back when I was still in Candor, “where were you that night?” She looks fierce and determined, everything that a young law enforcer should be. But I know, for some strange reason, that telling her the truth would be a terrible idea. But why? I’ve been bread and raised on the morals of Candor. I should find telling the whole truth easy, but I don’t. I don’t so I only tell her what I feel like she needs to know, “I was at home for most of the night. I did venture out at approximately 7 to see an associate from Dauntless, and stayed there until 10. You can check this out if you want.”

My teacher nods, and then turns back to me, “you didn’t tell us the whole truth Annabax. I know about this associate and I also know what you two were really doing. Do you think that by telling us only half the truth that you truly belong in Candor?” 

I gulp, and look her dead in the face, “no one can claim that they are entirely honest. That in itself would be in direct breech of Candor teachings. It seems as though neither of us truly belong here.” 

The world goes black again.

 

When my eyelids flutter open, Jeanine has a puzzled look on her face, “so you’re not Candor either? Maybe you’re erudite. The move you made on Eric would certainly suggest that you know a thing or two about how to fend off unwanted attacks, but then again. That could also mean alignment with the Dauntless. I highly doubt Abnegation because their response to that would be to just let it happen. That being said, activate Abnegation sim.” 

 

This simulation is strange, and I swear that if Jeanine doesn’t pick up on anything to do with Eric and I in this one, she isn’t as smart as she seems. For, in my Abnegation simulation, I am again wearing Eric’s jacket. Also, it is again relatively cold, but only me legs feel it as the jacket is as warm as I remembered it to be. As I am wrapping it around me, a woman in Abnegation grey clothes approaches me. The wind is extremely bitter and I do not understand how she is not blown away in that dress that she is wearing. I would be too if it wasn’t for the jacket. And then I see it. That is what this test is all about. The Abnegation woman will not outright ask me for the warmth because it would go against all the norms of her faction, but I am meant to perceive that she needs it, and, if I am truly Abnegation, offer it to her and persuade her that her comfort is of higher importance than mine. 

But we all know that I am not Abnegation. 

As I stare into her eyes, I try and fathom why I am not just handing over the jacket. Why do I really care so much about a piece of clothing? Why can’t I just hand it over so the poor woman doesn’t freeze to death in this cold? I can’t though. As hard as I try and will myself to do the Abnegation thing, I can’t.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, “I’m just not Abnegation either.” 

 

When I awaken from the simulation, I expect to feel another jab of the needle, but surprisingly, the chair has unfrozen me and I can move again. I glance over at Jeanine questioningly. She clears her throat, “it seems that we have a lot to discuss.”


	7. Annabax

Eric makes eye contact with me room across the room and arches his blonde eyebrow, “were you really that unwilling to give up the jacket? I didn’t know that it meant that much to you. We might have to invest in one for you.” He winks, which makes me blush scarlet. All I can really say is that if Jeanine hasn’t figured anything out by now, then I will seriously begin to doubt her intelligence. Judging by the look on her face, she has, and she doesn’t really look surprised. This leads me to believe that somehow she already knew, and not for the first time, I wonder who else knows about what happened. 

FLASHBACK

His hands creep along my back and squeeze my shoulders. His breathing hitches as I run my own hands down his arms, scratching slightly. He plants his lips on my throat, just below my ear, “for a Candor, you’re bad. I might just have to see how bad a Candor can actually be.” I tilt my head back as he kisses my neck, again and again. His hands brush over my chest, and I groan. He grins wickedly down at me, “ah, the groan of the Candor. You can’t tell lies so this must mean something good.”

I blush scarlet and shove him off me gently, “and you’re meant to be brave. But yet, here we are, in an abandoned part of Dauntless.”

The grin on his face drops, and he immediately releases me. I feel bad for what I have said, as I know that it is a sore point for Eric, but I am Candor after all. He glances down at me and sighs, “you and I both know why this has to happen the way that it does. There’s your age, and mind as well, and your status and mine. You’re not inferior, but people would look at it the wrong way.”

I don’t know why, but suddenly I’m crying, “How can they possibly look at it the wrong way? Everyone who knows me knows that I’m going to stay in Candor. I’m not afraid of what people can say. Let them. They won’t be telling the truth anyway.”

“We still can’t,” Eric argues, pulling me into his arms, “choose Dauntless.”

 

All of this happens within a second or two, enough time for Jeanine to plan a response to Eric’s statement, “I knew it. I knew that there was no logical reason for bringing her here. She isn’t Divergent. Granted, we don’t know exactly what she is, but we know she is only one as the dart put her to sleep.”

“Why don’t you care what I am? I still have two factions let,” I murmur. 

Jeanine turns her blue eyes on me, “because the remaining two factions are Erudite and Dauntless. As these two factions are so closely linked, we can put you in either of them and it won’t matter.”

I sob, “Why do you care so much about a girl being in the right faction. What if I don’t want to be beat up, or have to know everything? What if I genuinely wanted honesty?”

Eric laughs, “I think your factions tests more or less proved that that isn’t anywhere near being true. Why did you only tell the woman half of the truth if you’re so hell bent on being honest?”

I look away and shudder. I am not Candor. I am not honest. I have failed at the one thing in life that I wanted to succeed at. 

 

Jeanine sighs, “Truthfully, I don’t know what do with you.”

Eric’s eyes snap to her, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that she has a point. Why do you care so much about her Eric? Why can’t you just let her go, and accept that whatever you two had is clearly in the past? Move on. She isn’t interested.”

Eric clears his throat, “welllllllllllll…………”

I blush again and then yawn. Jeanine glances over at me again and breathes out, “Eric, take her to the spare room in the Divergent corridor. She may not be one, but we can’t exactly put her in with the Erudite girls of her age.”

“Good point,” Eric says, “do you want her under lock and key?”

“That’s outrageous!” I exclaim angrily, standing up and glaring at them both.

Jeanine ignores my outburst, “don’t put her under lock and key, but jut find a way of making sure that she stays where she’s meant to. She’ll never be able to get out without us anyway because of the guards and the all of the security machines.”

Eric nods and then turns back to me, “come on then. You implied that you were tired.”

 

Eric walks me down the corridor, past several unmarked doors, and some with light showing in the strip between the floor and the bottom of the door. He says nothing and neither do I. I don’t like the situation, and quite frankly, I only want to go back to Candor where I felt as though I knew where I belonged. Now I’m not so sure though. I didn’t test positive for Candor, or Abnegation, or even Amity. I know what I originally tested positive for during the mandatory simulations that all 16 year olds have to go through, but I don’t want to be that faction. I don’t want to et beat up every day and be constantly sore and tired. 

Eric suddenly stops in front of a large grey door, “this will be your room until Jeanine decides on what she’s going to do with you.” He stares down at me and then reaches out and strokes my face, “go to bed. We’ll come and wake you up in the morning.” As quick as a flash, he leans down and gently presses his lips against mine, and then nudges me into the room, “sleep tight.”


	8. Annabax

The room is bare with only a small bed like thing in the corner. Thankfully, whoever designed this room thought of the warmth of the occupants, so on the bed are blankets and a pillow. I have no idea if there are any cameras in here, but knowing the Erudite and their thirst for knowledge, I would assume that there is so I do not strip off fully. Instead, I peel my jacket off and climb under the covers. I kind of wish that I had been given a sedative of some sort because despite my claims of being unbearably tired, I only feel moderately sleepy. That doesn’t matter too much though. I learnt that I can shut my body off by just thinking that I am tired. So that’s what I do. Eventually the warm feeling of sleepiness spreads out its tendrils and drags me under. My last conscious thought is of Eric’s lips. 

 

In the morning, I am woken by the sound of the door opening. Squinting, because of how bright the morning light seems, I spot Eric in the doorway grinning at me, “good morning. Don’t you look amazing when you’ve first woken up?” He chuckles. 

I grumble and pat at my hair, knowing that it looks absolutely disgusting of a morning, “shut up. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you off capturing more innocent young girls?” 

As quick as a flash, he is across the room and right up in my face. I cringe at the angry expression that he is wearing, “you’re nowhere near being innocent. You didn’t even test positive for Candor, so how does that make you innocent? And you aren’t a young girl anymore; you’re of age. And, as far as I happen to remember it, I didn’t have to capture you; you came willingly all those years ago.”

I blush, “yeah I did all those years ago, but as I happen to recall, you shot me in the ankle and dragged me here. I didn’t consent to it.”

“I was proving that you weren’t Divergent. If you had been, Jeanine would have never let you live. If I had no proof that you weren’t Divergent, she would have either made someone shoot you anyway, or given you the test that the Divergent’s are getting. Now come along, we’re going to Dauntless.”

I freeze, my hand on my jacket, “Dauntless?”

“Yeah,” Eric grins, “it turns out that Jeanine was able to get her hands on the information about your faction test that you had when you were freshly 16. I only want to know why you chose Candor over Dauntless. You had aptitude for Dauntless; that’s not something that many people these days can honestly say.”

I straighten up, causing the blanket to fall of me, “maybe I just didn’t want to be forced to get beat up every day just to pass a faction’s entry requirements. I much preferred the ideology of Candor; honesty.”

Eric shrugs, “be that as it may; you’re Dauntless now and I’ll be in charge of your training. You’re being put in with the fresh group of initiates; the only difference is that you will definitely pass. I cannot however guarantee that you will receive a decent job; as you well know, the Dauntless jobs are extremely limited.”

I nod, not liking this situation at all, “but how can you guarantee that I’ll get in. Isn’t Dauntless an extremely competitive faction?”

Eric just grins, “You’ll pass, trust me.”

 

The journey in the car is uneventful, to say the least. Eric keeps up a string of pleasant and explanatory conversation for the entire trip though, “we’ll be jumping off the train, and then you’ll be required to jump again, this time into Dauntless headquarters where you’ll be taken directly to the transfers dormitory and introduced to the. Don’t sweat it too much; initiates don’t overly care too much about each other. They only care about passing, and receiving a good work position at the end of it. They won’t care about the fact that you weren’t at their choosing ceremony.”

I blush again, and stare out the window into the brightness of the morning light, “why would they be in their dorms at this part of the day? Shouldn’t they be out training and beating people up? I thought that that’s what Dauntless were all about.”

Eric laughs, “You’ll see. There’s a lot more to us than meets the eye.”

 

We’re standing on the edge of a building. Below us, about 50 meters, is a black hole. I cannot see what is at the bottom, if anything, and I am expected to jump off, a blind leap of faith if you like, just to become a Dauntless initiate. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want any of this, but I don’t have a choice. Eric stands beside me, grinning away like he usually does, “are you even going to jump, or would you like me to go first to prove that it won’t kill you?” When I nod timidly, he smirks, rubs my cheek and launches himself off the building, landing in the darkness. Through the gloom, I see the glint of the metal in his eyebrow and breathe a sigh of relief. I could run away now, and he might not catch me, but there’s no point. He’ll find me.

Sucking in air, I launch myself off the building without thinking. The power of the wind is the most powerful thing in the entire universe, so powerful that I cannot even scream. Before I can really comprehend anything other than the falling feeling, I fall on something hard that initially winds me, but then makes me laugh. It’s a laugh of relief and stress. I realize that it’s a net that I’m laying on and I sigh. Dauntless scare tactics are working. Out of the gloom, I hear Eric laugh, “You did it. I told you that nothing bad would happen at the bottom. Now you’re officially a Dauntless initiate.”

I sigh, “yeah but how do I get down off the net? I’ll probably fall if I attempt it myself.” He laughs again and walks towards me, “crawl over to the edge and I’ll lift you off. You won’t fall that way.” I cautiously approach the edge and hang my legs over the edge. Eric pulls me down and I land hard on my feet. A shooting pain works its way up my legs and I flinch, “now what?”

“Now we take you to the transfers’ dormitory.”


	9. Eric

The room is bare with only a small bed like thing in the corner. Thankfully, whoever designed this room thought of the warmth of the occupants, so on the bed are blankets and a pillow. I have no idea if there are any cameras in here, but knowing the Erudite and their thirst for knowledge, I would assume that there is so I do not strip off fully. Instead, I peel my jacket off and climb under the covers. I kind of wish that I had been given a sedative of some sort because despite my claims of being unbearably tired, I only feel moderately sleepy. That doesn’t matter too much though. I learnt that I can shut my body off by just thinking that I am tired. So that’s what I do. Eventually the warm feeling of sleepiness spreads out its tendrils and drags me under. My last conscious thought is of Eric’s lips. 

 

In the morning, I am woken by the sound of the door opening. Squinting, because of how bright the morning light seems, I spot Eric in the doorway grinning at me, “good morning. Don’t you look amazing when you’ve first woken up?” He chuckles. 

I grumble and pat at my hair, knowing that it looks absolutely disgusting of a morning, “shut up. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you off capturing more innocent young girls?” 

As quick as a flash, he is across the room and right up in my face. I cringe at the angry expression that he is wearing, “you’re nowhere near being innocent. You didn’t even test positive for Candor, so how does that make you innocent? And you aren’t a young girl anymore; you’re of age. And, as far as I happen to remember it, I didn’t have to capture you; you came willingly all those years ago.”

I blush, “yeah I did all those years ago, but as I happen to recall, you shot me in the ankle and dragged me here. I didn’t consent to it.”

“I was proving that you weren’t Divergent. If you had been, Jeanine would have never let you live. If I had no proof that you weren’t Divergent, she would have either made someone shoot you anyway, or given you the test that the Divergent’s are getting. Now come along, we’re going to Dauntless.”

I freeze, my hand on my jacket, “Dauntless?”

“Yeah,” Eric grins, “it turns out that Jeanine was able to get her hands on the information about your faction test that you had when you were freshly 16. I only want to know why you chose Candor over Dauntless. You had aptitude for Dauntless; that’s not something that many people these days can honestly say.”

I straighten up, causing the blanket to fall of me, “maybe I just didn’t want to be forced to get beat up every day just to pass a faction’s entry requirements. I much preferred the ideology of Candor; honesty.”

Eric shrugs, “be that as it may; you’re Dauntless now and I’ll be in charge of your training. You’re being put in with the fresh group of initiates; the only difference is that you will definitely pass. I cannot however guarantee that you will receive a decent job; as you well know, the Dauntless jobs are extremely limited.”

I nod, not liking this situation at all, “but how can you guarantee that I’ll get in. Isn’t Dauntless an extremely competitive faction?”

Eric just grins, “You’ll pass, trust me.”

 

The journey in the car is uneventful, to say the least. Eric keeps up a string of pleasant and explanatory conversation for the entire trip though, “we’ll be jumping off the train, and then you’ll be required to jump again, this time into Dauntless headquarters where you’ll be taken directly to the transfers dormitory and introduced to the. Don’t sweat it too much; initiates don’t overly care too much about each other. They only care about passing, and receiving a good work position at the end of it. They won’t care about the fact that you weren’t at their choosing ceremony.”

I blush again, and stare out the window into the brightness of the morning light, “why would they be in their dorms at this part of the day? Shouldn’t they be out training and beating people up? I thought that that’s what Dauntless were all about.”

Eric laughs, “You’ll see. There’s a lot more to us than meets the eye.”

 

We’re standing on the edge of a building. Below us, about 50 meters, is a black hole. I cannot see what is at the bottom, if anything, and I am expected to jump off, a blind leap of faith if you like, just to become a Dauntless initiate. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want any of this, but I don’t have a choice. Eric stands beside me, grinning away like he usually does, “are you even going to jump, or would you like me to go first to prove that it won’t kill you?” When I nod timidly, he smirks, rubs my cheek and launches himself off the building, landing in the darkness. Through the gloom, I see the glint of the metal in his eyebrow and breathe a sigh of relief. I could run away now, and he might not catch me, but there’s no point. He’ll find me.

Sucking in air, I launch myself off the building without thinking. The power of the wind is the most powerful thing in the entire universe, so powerful that I cannot even scream. Before I can really comprehend anything other than the falling feeling, I fall on something hard that initially winds me, but then makes me laugh. It’s a laugh of relief and stress. I realize that it’s a net that I’m laying on and I sigh. Dauntless scare tactics are working. Out of the gloom, I hear Eric laugh, “You did it. I told you that nothing bad would happen at the bottom. Now you’re officially a Dauntless initiate.”

I sigh, “yeah but how do I get down off the net? I’ll probably fall if I attempt it myself.” He laughs again and walks towards me, “crawl over to the edge and I’ll lift you off. You won’t fall that way.” I cautiously approach the edge and hang my legs over the edge. Eric pulls me down and I land hard on my feet. A shooting pain works its way up my legs and I flinch, “now what?”

“Now we take you to the transfers’ dormitory.”


	10. Annabax

The initiates are nice enough, as Eric said they would be. One of the girls, who is apparently also from Candor – but I don’t know her, introduces herself as Mali and smiles at me, “you’re from Candor as well. I can tell by what your body language suggests, and I can also tell that you’re hiding something, but I’m not Candor now; I’m Dauntless, so that is none of my business.”

“Hi Mali,” I say timidly, “yeah I am from Candor. I was kind of quiet though so you probably wouldn’t remember me. We didn’t share any classes either otherwise I would definitely remember you.” I laugh nervously. 

She laughs, “Yeah I probably wouldn’t. I didn’t generally associate with people from Candor anyway. I found the truth boring.” 

I grin; that I can relate to her with sometimes, “I found the Candor to be the most stimulating, but yes, the truth was rather monotonous sometimes. I have always found the Dauntless interesting.”

“Me too,” Mali nods, “I have always been like them too. I believe in ordinary acts of bravery; the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

“Awh shush Mali,” a tall boy walks over to where we’re sitting and plonks himself down across from me, shooting me a smile as he does so, “Hi, I’m Isaac. Don’t listen to Mali here; she always quotes directly from the factions manifesto to make herself sound smart. The real reason she left Candor is because she couldn’t hack the whole honesty thing. She much prefers to make everyone else look bad and weak, so she chose Dauntless, but she’ll probably fail.”

Mali smacks him on the arm, blushing, “that is not true! I never liked honesty because it was boring!”

“Yeah and a liar’s story never changes in wording, so you’re clearly a liar,” Isaac drawls. 

“If you’re going to be such a smart arse you should join the Erudite,” Mali glowers. 

Isaac grins, “Awh Mali, you know I’m just messing with you.”

“Yeah I do,” she smiles and then remembers I’m sitting her, “Oh right. Isaac, this is Annabax. She was originally Candor as well, but she said she was generally fairly quiet throughout classes so we probably won’t remember her.”

Isaac assesses me, and a cold shiver runs up my spine. He knows something is amiss, you were quiet during classes? That’s probably best in a Candor environment.”

I shrug, “there’s only every so much truth a person can tell. I didn’t feel like being a loudmouth so I just shut up most of the time. I guess I just wasn’t cut out for Candor.”

He smiles, seeming to accept my lie, “well hopefully you decide to stay in Dauntless.”

Mali nods, “who else do you know? Did you know Nathan and Shellby also transferred from Candor this year? We have about 20 initiates from other factions in total. Eric thinks that that’s some sort of record.”

My eyes bulge, “20? How many Dauntless do we have?”

“About the same; they generally stay in Dauntless,” Mali explains, “its still surprising that we have 20 transfers. We usually have 9 or 10.”

 

We’re still talking when Eric walks in. His eyes sweep the room and they zero in on Mali, Isaac and I. He nods so that only I can see and then says to the rest of the group, “Alright transfers, this year we thought that we’d start with a little bit of fun. That being said, we’re going to play a Dauntless style match of capture the flag. Meet us at the train tracks in 10 minutes.” He leaves. 

Mali laughs and jumps up, “wait for me to put my shoes on and we’ll go out there together. I don’t like Eric; he makes me feel really intimidated.”

“Yeah, he, uh, has that factor I guess,” I reply, absentmindedly pulling on a pair or black running boots that I got given a few hours ago, “but as long as we do the right thing, he should be alright to us.”

“You clearly do not know Eric,” Isaac laughs, “he’s terrifying.”

I laugh along with them, but I feel bad; Eric has never seemed terrifying to me, but then again, my bias is extremely obvious. 

Mali jumps up, “we’d better get going; Eric’ll literally kill us if we’re late.”

We run out of the room towards the train tracks.

 

We arrive just as Eric is beginning his speech. He eyeballs us before talking, “so we’ll be running and jumping onto a train to get started. Anyone who hasn’t yet mastered his had better learn really fast. Once everyone is on the train, I’ll explain the next step in the process, alongside Max, who most of you know as the other leader of Dauntless. He will oversee your training, but I’m the one in charge of it.”

Max nods at everyone.

Eric grins, “now what are you waiting for? Catch that train!”

Everyone starts running after the train, and we have no choice but to follow. Isaac looks like he is doing this with ease, and to be honest, I am finding it rather easy as well; I did a lot of running classes while I was in Candor. This has enabled me to be able to keep up with the Dauntless. As we near the open door on the train, my concerns turn from keeping up to the ability to be able to jump onto a fast moving vehicle. Luckily for me, a bigger girl who looks like she was born Dauntless swings herself up into the car, giving me a look at how it is done. It is my turn now and I cannot fail this in front of my faction. So, taking special car with the whole jumping part, I aim for the doorway, and land the jump. With a huge grin on my face, I walk over to where Mali and Isaac are standing and beam, “we made it.”

“Yeah,” Mali grins, “but now we’re in Eric’s hands. Let’s pray that we don’t get forced to run laps or kill each other.”

Isaac and I laugh.


	11. Annabax

“Alright everyone,” Eric shouts and we all quieten down, “the objective of this game is very simple; capture the other team’s flag to win! There’ll be two teams; Max and I are captains! Any questions?”

“Yeah,” someone up the front replies, “what are the flags?”

Max nods approvingly, “Eric and I will show you them when we get to our drop off locations. Both flags have one thing in common and it is up to you lot to figure out what that is and then find the other team’s. Any more questions?”

Eric’s eyes scan the room, “no? Well then let’s begin. I’ll pick first; Isaac.”

Mali claps Isaac on the back and turns to me and whispers, “I’m glad that’s him and not me; who knows what Eric would make us do?

Max nods, “it’s not like you to pick a transfer straight away. You usually go for the Dauntless born because they at least have had experience being shot with the stim guns. That being said, Lucas.”

Lucas is one of the initiates that looks like he is a Dauntless born. He nods at Max and grins across at Eric, who also nods at him. It also appears that they know each other. Well, I guess it would make a lot of sense considering he stayed in Dauntless. But, Eric wasn’t originally from Dauntless. I know this because when we hung out all those years ago, we discussed factions. At that point in time, he was still a member of Erudite, but due to a plan of Jeanine’s, it was arranged with Dauntless leadership that that he was going to become Dauntless. More and more names get called, and I’m still finding myself not having being picked. Eventually Mali gets chosen my Max, and another girl, Rosalynn, by Eric. 

“Annabax,” Max says. I’m pulled out of my daze by the sound of my name. I’ve been chosen, and as well as that, I’m on the same team as Mali. 

I walk over to Max’s side of the train carriage, feeling Eric’s eyes on me the whole time. Mali grins, “we’re on the same team! We’re so going to pummel them!”

Mali’s laughter is contagious and I soon find myself smirking and agreeing with her. Never did I think that I would be on of the Dauntless.

 

When it comes to for our team to jump off the train, I wave goodbye to Isaac, who looks upset – maybe that we aren’t all on the same team, and nod at Eric. He just scowls and watches us as we jump. Much to my surprise and delight, I land the jump. Mali, who is sitting on the ground, clearly wasn’t so lucky. Upon seeing me on my feet, she grins, “there’s no way you should regret choosing Dauntless; you’re already so good at the stuff our faction does! How did you land that?”

I shrug, allowing myself a small smile of victory, “I don’t know really. I guess it’s a mix between the speed of the car and then trying to make your speed and jump based around that. It’s not that hard.”

Mali shakes her head and laughs, “That sounds like something straight out of Erudite. I guess I’ll just stick to getting it wrong and eventually I’ll learn.”

We laugh, and I help Mali to her feet just as Max calls us all to attention, “alright everyone gather around. This is our flag,” out of his jacket he pulls out a glowing piece of green fabric, “the other team has one that has a similarity. It is up to you to hide our flag, guard it, and hunt down theirs! Now, knowing what you already know about the area that we’re in, where do you think would be a good place to hide it, that offers both camouflage and protection?”

“Up a tree!” someone exclaims, “that way they have to climb the tree to get it and we can shoot them down before they reach it!”

“Yeah,” someone else agrees.

“Well I disagree,” Mali counters, “what if they found out where the flag was and gathered a large group together? We can’t guarantee its protection then.”

“Do you have a better idea then?” the first person asks. 

Mali says nothing but suddenly, after looking around at what we have to work with, I have an idea. “Well,” I say, “Mali has a point. It obviously needs to be somewhere up high and hard to access. A tree doesn’t meet the requirements for that, but if someone scaled that building over there,” I point to a relatively tall but climbable building, “we could have an excellent hiding spot.”

Max nods, “the issue is camouflage. How are we going to hide it when we aren’t allowed to be touching it?”

Mali chips in, “we can easily stuff it in the chimney and put on a rock or something with weight on top to hold it in place. That way all they’ll see is perhaps a tiny patch of bright material.”

The person who spoke up first nods, “okay but who is going to scale the building?”

I find myself being brave, “I will. We should have 2 people up there and a few scattered around the edge. Additionally, spread a few out nearby to throw them off the scent but so they’re still close enough to defend.”

Mali grins, “I’ll come up with you; I love heights.”

“Well that’s solved then,” the boy named Lucas agrees, “we should have around 8 of us stay behind and the others can go and hunt for their flag. My guess is the flag is also either green or glowing. That being said, 4 transfers and 4 Dauntless should stay.”

 

Once that part is sorted out, Mali and I, along with the 6 that will stay with us, are headed towards the building. Once we’re at the base, Mali takes the flag and stuffs it in her jacket pocket, “for safekeeping. Also, this way if the other team happen to be nearby, they won’t see the glowing; they may see us, but they’ll most likely just assume that we’re scaling the building for added vision, not for hiding the flag. 

As we slowly climb to the top, Mali is quiet. The climb is relatively easy as all we really have to do is first go up the stairs and then climb onto the roof. At the top, the view is gorgeous. Though it definitely doesn’t compare to being on top of Seers tower. Mali smiles and walks towards the chimney and stuffs the flag inside, “it sits there on its own. Seems like we won’t have to put anything on top after all. Now all we really can do is wait.”


	12. Annabax

We sit there for what feels likes ages. Our search part has already set out, having a theory that Eric’s team would have headed towards the bluff. The bluff, in reality, would make for an excellent hiding spot because the team could make one member swim out to the buoy, or even drag it in by the rope, and sit the flag on there. Then, anyone who wants to grab their flag, must either get wet and possibly freeze to death -not literally but it is cold out, or hope that they can reach from the Jetty and that no one pushes them in anyway. In a way, the plan is kind of unfaultable, but there were be a flaw somewhere. Just like with ours someone could easily spy us sitting up here on the room behind the chimney and assume that the flag is up here, or assume that the flag is somewhere in this general area and send all of their team, bar one or two guarding their flag, and completely ambush us. However, for safe keeping we have placed the majority of our back up guards anywhere between us as the trees in the clearing that is approximately 100 meters away. 

That clearing has one main advantage, to us anyway; we can see the team coming. There is no other way around that either so if any off the other team members decide to head is this general direction, not only will we have the higher ground, but we will be able to see them extremely easily as well. The only disadvantage is that I have no idea how to work the gun I am handling and what damage it will do to my opponents. I may be expected to be Dauntless, but I don’t want to seriously injure anyone. 

Mali turns away from the clearing for a second and looks at the gun in my hands and at the expression of my face. She sighs, “I don’t know if anyone’s told you but that gun won’t actually do any serious damage to people. As Max said, it simulates the pain of a real gun shot for a few minutes, but it won’t make them bleed out.”

“Why?” I ask. 

“Because,” Mali rolls her eyes, “the end of it is shaped like the end of a needle, but it’s a lot stronger and won’t snap. In the tip is a small amount of liquid that will dissolve after a few minutes. This is what causes the pain. Any more questions?”

“No,” I mutter, “I’m still unsure about using it though.”

“You’ll be fine,” Mali pats me on the shoulder and turns back to the clearing, “besides; I’d rather cause them pain than feel it myself.”

“True.”

 

We keep sitting up there silently on the roof, until finally we see something. From a distance, it appears to be a member or two of the opposite team headed this way. Being careful not to make myself visible as it is only late afternoon, I whistle quietly down to the guard over in the trees nearby. He glances up and me and I carefully point towards the clearing. After seeing the now obviously 2 people, he nods up and us and passes the message along the chain, though most of the other nearby guards have seen the 2 people. Mali and I crawl backwards into a crevice in the roof which safely disguises the both of us. She turns to me and nods, whispering quietly, “alright so our guns are the same colour as the roof. We should wait until they get closer and the n try and take them out.”

I shake my head, “Mali, we’re hiding right near the flag. They might think that it’s rather odd that two of us are sitting up here away from everyone else. We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to the flag.”

Mali nods, but keeps looking anxiously at the two figures. She suddenly squints and goes completely still, “is that Eric?”

Gaping, I lean around the corner and squint at the two figures. Sure enough, one of them is Eric. He walks with caution, holding his gun in a defensive position. The way he walks reminds me of his personality and just him in general. As they get closer, close enough for us to see their faces clearly and have to hide, Mali breathes, “what do we do? We can’t just stay up here, not the both of us at least.”

She has a point. As Eric glances toward the house, I breathe back, “make a break for it. Run behind the chimney. The shadow should cause enough of a cover for you to get to the edge of the building. I’m taking it that you know how to and feel comfortable jumping of buildings?” When she nods, I continue, “after that, it doesn’t matter of they notice. They’ll hopefully assume that you were hiding in the trees. Judging by the way the Dauntless seem to act and think, at least one of them will chase after you. Run towards where the far guard is; that way they’ll assume that the flag is over there and they’ll all go there as well.”

Mali nods, seeming to be impressed with what I just said, “Well I’ll jump now then and make sure a few of the guards stay in this general area. See you soon!” With that, Mali silently runs in the shadow of the chimney, and jumps, hitting the ground with a rather loud thus. Rather than trying to hide the noise, she angles her running so that it appears that she was hiding in the forest. Suddenly, it’s as though I am watching it in slow motion; Mali shoots and Eric and his partner and misses, but their bullets hit her in the leg. She falls to the ground screaming, and, although I know they aren’t real bullets; I scream with her.

Eric’s head snaps over to where I am and he grins, “Gotcha.”


	13. Annabax

I freeze and discreetly glance up at the flag before deciding what I am going to do next. I could either run after their flag and leave ours more or less unprotected, although we have the few guards scattered around, or stay here and attempt to fight Eric. I think, even in this moment, everyone knows what I am going to do. So, as soon as my feet hit the ground, I take off, hoping that Eric is too stunned to chase after me. As I glance behind me, I sigh; nope, he’s clearly not stunned and he’s almost right behind me. Suddenly, I feel like this situation is similar to de ja vu. Except, this time around I am holding a gun as well. Smirking, I turn around while I’m running and shoot at him. Because of my horrible shooting skills and bad aim, Eric manages to move out of the way and get his gun ready for aim.

“Shit,” I mutter. I have absolutely no idea about what to do in this situation. Do I run, or do I stop, in hopes that he will not shoot. Just as I am considering the latter, a strange, but surely helpful idea springs to mind; run but not in a straight line. I decide to follow this advice and I swerve to the left and then to the right. I hear Eric’s laughter from behind me and I become rather worried. Am I not doing the right thing? I slow a little bit to try and figure out why he is laughing. Then, I feel a sharp but terrible pain in my ankle. I scream. It hurts so much, and I fall over, my gun, which was all but useless anyway as I have no idea how to handle it, slips from my hand and I faceplant into the mud. 

I hear his footsteps behind me as I writhe in pain. These bullets really are something. Eric tuts and leans down and whispers, “they’re strong aren’t they? Just imagine; you’re going to have so many of these shot into you by the time the end of training rolls around that you’ll be used to it and the pain won’t even bother you anymore. In fact, maybe I should test you a little now; where is your team’s flag?”

I know what he’s trying to do immediately and I refuse to budge; he won’t win. I flinch as another bullet meets my flesh, this time embedding itself in my arm. But I can’t let the pain overwhelm me to the point that I tell him what he wants to know. Again and again he asks me the same question, smirks, and then shoots me again. By the tenth bullet or so, I begin to feel woozy due to the pain. He grins, “You feeling okay? I could stop this if only you would tell me where the flag is.” Finally, the 11th bullet finds me and I keel over. 

 

When I awake, I’m lying on the floor in the train. Opening my eyes further, I discover that Eric is in the carriage with me and that I no longer have the bullets in me. I sigh, “where are we and where are we going?”

He smirks at me and shakes his head, “you’re not very good at this game. Which, isn’t really all that surprising because you’re not Dauntless born. However, your Erudite response to everything is something that is vaguely concerning and possibly something that we need to fix immediately.”

I blink, sitting up, “and how would you fix that?”

Eric walks across the carriage and sits down next to me, “by brutally pumping the methods of the Dauntless into you. Jeanine had already guessed that this would happen so she sent you to Dauntless for me to look after. You see, you could have been Erudite as well. On your mandatory faction test, you scored extremely high on Erudite, though, not near high enough for it to counteract your Dauntless aptitude or make you a Divergent. So therefore, Jeanine placed you with me, because they couldn’t possibly house an Erudite that could become rogue, and it is my job to make sure that you conform to our ways and values, even if brutality is required.”

I shiver and wrap my arms around myself, “so what does this involve? Or am I not allowed to know?”

He sizes me up and shrugs, “well, it can’t possibly hurt to let you know. I’m going to give you rather brutal Dauntless training for the rest of your initiation. On top of this, you will be expected to train with the other initiates as well, and if they ask we’re you’re going, just tell them you go for trips with the leaders to better enhance your training. They will accept this from a transfer.”

I bunch up into a ball, “what makes you think I actually want to do this?”

Eric grips my face in his hands, “you don’t have to want to do it; you just have to too. Otherwise Jeanine has already said that she will use you as a Divergent test subject, and there will be nothing I can do to defend you.”

“I’m not Divergent though,” I look away, though his hands prevent me from actually moving, “you said I could be, but I’m not.”

“I did,” Eric agrees, stroking my face, “but Jeanine doesn’t see it quite that way. The way she sees it; you scored high enough in a lot of your faction tests to almost have aptitude for them. Obviously your only proper faction of aptitude is Dauntless.”

I sob, pulling myself away from him, “so why any of this then? I don’t want to lie to my friends! I don’t want to start my new life on lies and mistrust!”

Eric ignores my outburst, “if you’re clearly that concerned with honesty, you definitely need work. You are Dauntless now, and these sessions will hopefully knock some sense and discipline into you.”

 

Eventually the train starts to slow down and Eric gets to his feet, “we’re going to jump. Don’t try and run off otherwise it could be very bad for you. Just follow me. You can jump first.”

I scowl and get to my feet, “do you really not trust me that much?”

As I jump, I hear Eric’s reply, “oh I trust you, but I also know you Annabax, and you’re deadly smart; maybe just a combination of both, deadly and smart.”

As we land, I feel him take my arm, “now you’re mine. Just know that everything that happens within these sessions stays here. I will not do anything bad to you – don’t worry about that. Now follow me.”


End file.
